Sunday, January 6, 2008

By way of Blumenthal on Branding, I found this Brandweek article written by Shel Holtz about the proliferation of social media. It quotes stats that show that almost 1/4 of U.S consumers are now using social networking sites and 19% are using blogs.

One really interesting point was that bloggers have a bias towards complaining about stuff. Such posts are easy to write and a great way to let off steam. It's worked for me.

So, in a world where more and more people are turning to blogs and other social media for information, the ever more important customer service and tech support employees become. Nothing can send a blogger over the edge so effectively as a frustrating experience trying to get something fixed.

Shel makes the point that these employees are the new front line for public relations so their mission needs to be recast. Less about keeping costs to a minimum, more about advocating for and communicating with customers.